RFE: Conference Listings

Historical Materialism

Dates:

July 20-21, 2012

Description:

Historical Materialism Australasia 2012

Location:

Sydney, Sydney Mechanic??s School of Arts, Australia

Subject:

(...)The reoccupation of the world??s streets, squares and commons is matched by the ever-increasing subordination of parliaments to the dictates of the market, witnessed most profoundly in the imposition of technocratic rule in Greece, Italy and elsewhere.These events have seen Marx return to mainstream debate, but all too often in the form of having his insights cherry picked and reified in an attempt to rescue capitalism from itself. There is a need to go beyond such appropriation, to reestablish a living critique of political economy, to work towards the ???determinate negation?? of capitalism that Marx spoke of. Such a project requires raising questions about the meaning, the form and the very desirability of democracy in an era of growing technocratic rule. Similarly, as human rights provide a moral cover for wars it becomes necessary to interrogate the language of rights in contemporary political struggles. And, as revolution re-appears on the global stage, if in new forms hardly recognizable to revolutionaries of the past, it is clear that the categories of our political thought and practice must be subjected to renewed thought and debate.[gem?_?? den Informationen des Anbieters - according to site editor's information]